Just did a search and found very little on this, so I decided to ask all of my fellow UHH members.
I am interested in purchasing a battery pack for my Nikon SB900. The Nikon model is $200.00. There is a BOLT and other brands that are around $100.00. Do any of you have any experience with the other brands and are they worth the money? I am willing to buy the Nikon, but would not mind saving $100.00.
I will use it with my D800 doing event photography.
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Will
I bought a Bolt battery pack a few years ago for the SB800 because the Nikon model was unavailable. Still have it- works great.
I have the
Nikon SD9 ($209.95) for my SB900/910 and a model by Phottix (which appears to no longer be available).
The quality difference between all of them is negligible.
In fact, I would not be surprised if they all came from the same factory.
I use mine professionally and they all work the same.
Get the
Bolt CBP-N2 for $75.
Bret
Loc: Dayton Ohio
Spot on GN...I use 4 of those with my 910s. They had a sale at B&H and...well...you know..lol
There's a Neewer
PixelPro brand for less than $25.
That price make me wonder, but I have a couple of Neewer softboxes that work great.
twillsol wrote:
Just did a search and found very little on this, so I decided to ask all of my fellow UHH members.
I am interested in purchasing a battery pack for my Nikon SB900. The Nikon model is $200.00. There is a BOLT and other brands that are around $100.00. Do any of you have any experience with the other brands and are they worth the money? I am willing to buy the Nikon, but would not mind saving $100.00.
I will use it with my D800 doing event photography.
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Will
Just did a search and found very little on this, s... (
show quote)
I have the battery pack. I brought it because it was said it prevents the overheating issue. That is TOTAL BS. I ran quite a few test with it using different batteries. Basically the SB900 is Nikons biggest piece of garbage, IF, you shoot weddings. If you are going to use it for extra power then it will be OK. BTW, since then I switched to QFLASH. Expensive, yes, but the flash works every time and VERY well and the radio system is flawless.
Yes, the external packs seem to me to be similar in make and quality, except for the price
Sadly, the SB900 overheats with an external pack or not.
OviedoPhotos wrote:
Yes, the external packs seem to me to be similar in make and quality, except for the price
Sadly, the SB900 overheats with an external pack or not.
Agreed- not sure how an external pack would solve the overheating issue.
It was more than just the batteries heating up.
GoofyNewfie wrote:
Agreed- not sure how an external pack would solve the overheating issue.
It was more than just the batteries heating up.
When Nikon was SMOKING the issue, they blamed, and stiil do, the overheating on the draw the flash does on the batteries. They said the overheating was because the batteries were not supplying the required amount of power. So the flash had to draw harder and thus overheated. Nikon said DON'T use rechargeable batteries and the battery pack would alleviate the issue. I hooked the battery pack up and put FRESH energizers in the flash and pack. Fired away and it failed, consistently. Nikon kept to their guns that the flash was working perfectly and it was not a feature flaw. So what do they do. They come out with the 910 that does not shut down, but SLOWS down. Same stupid issue you just experience it a different way. Nikon is very disappointing. Now I invest in Quantum.
Thank you for helping me decide. Yes, the SB900 does overheat, but actually I have had it for several years and only ran into that once or twice when I was doing a wedding. I also have the SB600 and SB700 for back-ups when that occurs. And I only do weddings maybe once every two years for a friend or relative. I think I will go with the BOLT; for $75,00, it is worth a try. Saw the ones for $25.00, but really doubt the reliability of one that cheap, but it may be a good one; someone else can find that out.
Thanks again
Will
Bobbee wrote:
When Nikon was SMOKING the issue, they blamed, and stiil do, the overheating on the draw the flash does on the batteries. They said the overheating was because the batteries were not supplying the required amount of power.
Thanks for the explanation...from Nikon.
:thumbup:
You need to know that the SB900 flash is not as powerful as the SB800. Check out the guide numbers. I was disappointed to find this out after I bought one a few years ago. The 900 has a control selection that was made for giving more wide angle and more telephoto coverage than the 800. Plus Nikon made it more user friendly for quick changes to the menus. That being said, I use the 900 for indoor events and the 800 for outdoors for that extra power on HSS. Also I use Quantum Turbo battery packs. The Nikon battery packs are a waste of money
The battery pack might solve the overheating issue if the overheating was caused by the low voltage to high voltage converter circuit. This circuit is in the battery pack.
GoofyNewfie wrote:
Thanks for the explanation...from Nikon.
:thumbup:
I was on the phone with Nikon and Unique Photo with this issue a lot. Like I was on the phone with Nikon when my 10 Pin Connector broke on my D800. At least they fixed the 10 Pi Connector for free. Even if they did not acknowledge it was a design issue that they fixed when replacing the 10 Pin connector with a more sturdy replacement.
BebuLamar wrote:
The battery pack might solve the overheating issue if the overheating was caused by the low voltage to high voltage converter circuit. This circuit is in the battery pack.
It did not help. I brought the SB900 knowing of the issue but thought the stated resolve by Nikon with using the battery pack would fix the issue.........................they lied!
twillsol wrote:
Just did a search and found very little on this, so I decided to ask all of my fellow UHH members.
I am interested in purchasing a battery pack for my Nikon SB900. The Nikon model is $200.00. There is a BOLT and other brands that are around $100.00. Do any of you have any experience with the other brands and are they worth the money? I am willing to buy the Nikon, but would not mind saving $100.00.
I will use it with my D800 doing event photography.
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Will
Just did a search and found very little on this, s... (
show quote)
I use the SB700 with my D800E and it works fine.
I don't need the extra reach in distance the SB900 & SB910 are designed for.
Craig
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